A one-volume, detailed survey of the major debates and themes in the history of western medicine, from the early modern period to the present. Combining specialised knowledge with new ways of thinking about the subject, this lucidly written, illustrated text explores traditional views and questions existing orthodoxies.

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KEIR WADDINGTON is Reader in the Social History of Medicine and Head of History at Cardiff University, UK. He has written a number of books on the history of hospitals, asylums, medical education and public health. He is closely involved with the Society for the Social History of Medicine.

List of Illustrations List of Tables Acknowledgements Abbreviations Preface Understanding the History of Medicine: Historiography Disease, Illness and Society Medicine and Religion Women, Health and Medicine Medical Self-Help and the Market for Medicine Anatomy and Medicine Surgery HospitalsPractitioners and Professionalization Science and the Practice of Medicine Nursing Public Health Healthcare and the State Medicine and Empire Medicine and Warfare The Rise of the Asylum Afterword Index

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'Keir Waddington combines a readable and comprehensive outline of his subject with relevant writing and research in this single volume, useful to undergraduate and other readers seeking an up-to-date survey of the social history of medicine.' - Steven Cherry, University of East Anglia, UK

'This book makes a first-rate contribution to the social history of medicine...One of the great strengths of the book is the way in which it enlivens topics without compromising scholarly credentials. It is rare to be able to say this, but this book strikes exactly the right balance between summarising context, synthesising some of the key historiography, and indicating new approaches that will shape the sorts of research areas that students might wish to pursue for their dissertation work in their final year. The structure of the book is thus very well thought-through for many university lecturers...Buy this book, read its scholarship and engage with an author who has crafted a new scholarly contribution worthy of praise.' - Elizabeth T. Hurren, Social History of Medicine